Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Japanese Certificate III, JLPT & Japanese Electronic Dictionaries

Recently I made the decision to enroll in Japanese Certificate lll at TAFE. Although I had just finished Certificate II a few weeks ago, somehow Certificate III feels so much harder and like I missed an entire years of classes in between! My new teacher has decided that 'at our level', most of the class will be in Japanese! Eek! For example, if you want to ask what a particular word is in Japanese, or if you need to leave the classroom for a moment, you have to ask in Japanese.

Also my kanji is really not up to scratch for this level! Sigh! Well this can only mean one thing! The return to the good old flash cards! I'll be making some new ones this week. A LOT of them!

And the other thing I am looking into to help me out with my characters is a Japanese Electronic Dictionary. Have you got one? If you have any tips for ones most suitable for gaijin I would love to hear!

I have been looking here, here and here for some advice on Japanese Electronic Dictionaries and Nintendo DS. This site seems to be quite good for ordering from outside Japan.

I am also going to challenge myself this year by taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. For those of you living outside of Japan, and also interested in taking the exam, here is the list of the exam dates. The Sydney test takes place on December 6. Eek! Not long to go! If you are interested, the Meguro Language Centre has some excellent JLPT preparation material that you can download which is also very useful for all Japanese language students, not just those preparing for the JLPT.

There are some great sample exam question books to help you prepare too. You can flick through some at Sydney's Japan Foundation library, or, if you are anything like me, and believe that owning more Nihon-go books instantly makes you better at Nihon-go, then head straight over to Kinokuniya to pick up your copy!

what a great bento box - i love the stripes!!and wow - you are a nihongo inspiration! working so hard and sharing the story - so great! i am sure you will be flying in your cert III class before you know it. and the proficiency test is a super one to focus your energies, the bliss of achievement:) i am so out of the loop with electronic things, i really can;t help i am sorry:( but jim breen is a good online dictionary i thought...perapera here you come desu ne:)

Hello Bree! Oh it's cute isn't it! It has a little freezer gel lid too that keeps it nice and cold! Mr Y has a matching one too (except yellow). I just found about that dictionary today! It sounds amazing! Thank you so much for the heads up! Perapera would be soooooooooo good! Like you!!!!!! One day!

Hello hiki-san! oh you are so sweet to say so! Haha! you remembered my dream! xxx

Hi Kate, thank you so much for your great link to the flashcards! Amazing :) Thank you!

Hello Zoe-chan! haha! Yes I miss you especially at lunch time! Hope its all going well in there!

Hello Cookie Cutter, yes the kinokuniya suggestion is the best isn't it! I love new books! :)

Hey Joel! Thank you so much for sending those amazing resources! I will be a very busy lady now! haha!

Hi Ebony, I have My Japanese Coach on the DS and have found it really great for memorising Kanji. Problem is I can now write more than I can understand! Think it might be time for some lessons. :) Mala.

About Me

Hello. I am Hello Sandwich. I am an Australian artist and graphic designer living in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. I love Japan, bento boxes, pantone 107.3 and metallic hologram foil, polka dots and plaid, Holbein gouache and fluoro pencils and I have a huge crush on Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugito. I would like to share with you some of the things that inspire me. I hope you will enjoy.